March 1940 in Music History

Events in Music

Mar 3 American bandleader Artie Shaw records "Frenesi" on RCA Victor label
Mar 10 1st US opera telecast, W2XBS, NYC: Ruggero Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci"

Film Premiere

Mar 14 "The Road to Singapore" directed by Victor Schertzinger starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour, first of seven such films premieres

Birthdays in Music

Mar 1 Ralph Towner, rocker (Oregon)
Mar 2 Tony Croatto {Hermes Martinis], Italian-Puerto Rican folk song singer and composer (Los TNT; Haciendo Punto en Otro Son), and television presenter, born in Udine, Italy (d. 2005)

Johnny Ventura (1940-2021)

Mar 8 merengue and salsa bandleader (“Patacon Pisao”), and politician (Mayor of Santiago, 1998-2002), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic [1]

Mar 10 Dean Torrence, American surf music singer (Jan & Dean - "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena"), born in Los Angeles, California
Mar 10 Francis Schwartz, American experimental claassical composer (Fluxus)
Mar 11 Alberto Cortez, Argentinian singer
Mar 11 Jon Gibson, American flute and saxophone player (Philip Glass Ensemble, 1968-2019), and composer (The Voyage of The Beagle), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2020)
Mar 12 Al Jarreau, American jazz singer ("Breaking Away"; "We're In This Love Together"; "Moonlighting"), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 2017)
Mar 12 M.A. Numminen, Finnish singer and writer
Mar 13 Candi [Canzetta Maria] Staton, American gospel singer ("Young Hearts Run Free"), born in Hanceville, Alabama
Mar 15 Phil Lesh [Chapman], American rock bassist (Grateful Dead - "Box of Rain"), born in Berkeley, California
Mar 16 Keith Rowe, English guitarist (AMM) and painter
Mar 20 Glenn Schwartz, American rock guitarist (Pacific Gas & Electric -"Are You Ready?"), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2018)
Mar 20 Vito Picone, American rocker (Elegants) and actor, born in Staten Island, New York
Mar 21 Chip Taylor [James Voight], American songwriter ("Angel of the Morning"; "Wild Thing"), singer, and producer, born in Yonkers, New York
Mar 21 Solomon Burke [McDonald], American soul singer ("Cry To Me"; "Diamond In Your Mind"), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2010)
Mar 23 Luis Gasca, American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player, born in Houston, Texas
Mar 25 Anita Bryant, American singer (George Gobel Show) and anti-homosexuality campaigner, born in Barnsdall, Oklahoma
Mar 26 Rod Lauren, American rocker (If I Had a Girl), born in Fresno, California (d. 2007)
Mar 27 Janis Martin, American rockabilly and country singer ("Will You Willyum"; "Drugstore Rock 'n Roll"), born in Sutherlin, Virginia (d. 2007)
Mar 29 Astrud Gilberto (née Weinert), Brazilian samba singer ("The Girl From Ipanema"), born in Salvador, Brazil (d. 2023)
Mar 29 Eden Kane [Richard Graham Sarstedt], British pop singer ("Well I Ask You"), born in New Delhi, British India
Mar 29 Raymond Davis, American rock vocalist (Funkadelic - "Knee Deep"), born in Sumter, South Carolina (d. 2005)